MoFo Webinar: Navigating Small Business and Disadvantaged Business Opportunities
- On Wednesday, September 18, 1-2:30PM ET, MoFo partner Damien Specht and associate Ali Young will present a Clear Law Institute webinar titled “Navigating Small Business and Disadvantaged Business Opportunities.” The Federal Government gives many opportunities to small businesses, granting them more than $100 billion... ›
Five-Year Annual Receipts: Don’t Start Until SBA Says “Go!”
By: Damien C. Specht
Absent further action by the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) Office of Hearings and Appeals or a Federal Court, the GAO has effectively ended the argument as to whether the Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018 (“Runway Extension Act”) immediately changed the annual receipt... ›Highlights From the Currently Stalled Small Business Administration Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2019
By: Damien C. Specht and Alissandra Young McCann
Last month, Senator Marco Rubio, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, released the Chairman’s mark to the Small Business Administration (SBA) Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2019 (the “SBA Reauthorization Act”). This legislation aims to modernize and streamline SBA programs,... ›SBA Proposed Rule Revised Timeframe for Receipt Calculation in Size Determinations
By: Damien C. Specht and Locke Bell
Responding to statutory requirements in the 2018 Small Business Runway Extension Act, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a proposed rule on June 24, 2019 to adjust its regulations on the calculation of average annual receipts in small business size determinations. This change would... ›Key Takeaways from the Small Business Administration’s Revised Policy Directives for the SBIR and STTR Programs
By: Tina D. Reynolds and Damien C. Specht
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has statutory authority to establish federal Government-wide policies to implement the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. SBA recently issued a significantly revised final SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, which is effective May 2, 2019.... ›Class Waivers of the Non-Manufacturer Rule: New OHA Decision Creates Uncertainty
By: Damien C. Specht and James A. Tucker
Those familiar with Federal procurements know the general rule: If you submit a proposal against a solicitation despite disagreeing with one of its provisions, you usually waive the right to challenge that provision in the future. That rule applies to bid protests at both... ›New Decisions Clarify Small Business Minority Shareholder Protections
By: Damien C. Specht, James A. Tucker and Victoria Dalcourt Angle
One of the easiest small business affiliation rules to apply is that a person that owns “50 percent or more of a concern’s voting stock. .. controls or has the power to control the concern.” 13 C.F.R. § 121.103(c)(1). It is far more difficult, however,... ›SBA OHA Affirms Long-Standing Interpretation of Recertification Regulations
By: Damien C. Specht and Victoria Dalcourt Angle
In a recent decision, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) Office of Hearing and Appeals (“OHA”) affirmed the widely-understood interpretation of the SBA regulations that a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern (“SDVO SBC”) retains its SDVO SBC status for the life of multiple award... ›Court of Federal Claims Rejects SBA Decision That Future Conditional Restriction on Stock Ownership Destroys “unconditional Ownership”
By: Damien C. Specht and Locke Bell
Veteran-owned small businesses have long grappled with seemingly benign drafting inconsistencies between Small Business Administration (SBA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations that can leave a business qualified as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) by VA standards, but not at the SBA... ›NAICS Code Appeals: One Size Does Not Fit All
By: Damien C. Specht and James A. Tucker
The federal government sets aside many contracts for small businesses, but not all small business set-asides are created equal. Instead, different size standards define small business status for different procurements. The size standards vary from industry to industry, so a given firm may be... ›